Aspasia
Aspasia, also know as The Ghost of Kosmos, is one of the main antagonists of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (alongside Deimos). She is the leader of the Cult of Kosmos, a proto-Templar organisation based in Ancient Greece. She was voiced by Marianthi Evans. Biography During the Peloponnesian War, Aspasia fell in love with the leader of Athens, Perikles. This gave her a high position in Athenian politics which also allowed her to lead the Cult of Kosmos. By the time Kassandra has dismantled the Cult by defeating every member, Aspasia was confronted by her when she went to the Cult's lair in Delphi. Here, Aspasia claimed that she saw the Cult's corruption and try to destroy it by letting it hunt down Kassandra, and that then she would build a resistance to rid the Greek World of corruption. However, all this was a lie, and resulted in Kassandra fighting Aspasia, killing her. With Perikles as the de facto ruler of Athens, Aspasia planted herself at the heart of the Athenian intellectual community. As a socialite, she actively fostered a culture of diverse thought by hosting parties and events for renowned politicians, artists, and philosophers of the age. Far from being a passive actor, she was a tantalizing speaker who contributed to this high point of Athenian philosophy with her own brilliance. Personality Aspasia was considered one of the wisest women of the Greek world, considering herself a symbol of progress for Athens. But as the shadowy leader of the Cult of Kosmos, she was an ambitious and populist woman openly obsessed with the progress of humanity. Aspasia believed that the people were the true owners of the world, and she defended her freedom, unlike the modern-day Templars, against the mob rule of democracy. Aspasia believed in the advancement of humanity, willing to use the Greek world's own superstitions against it in order to guide society along a desired path towards the future, with the ultimate goal of moving humanity away from the construes of the past towards a rational society. Out of mistrust or merely a desire to protect her paramour Perikles, she kept him in the dark about her plans. However, she overestimated her own capabilities; after Deimos came into his own in the Cult, he began to hold ever-increasing sway and eventually became the unofficial leader of the Cult, reducing Aspasia's role to that of a figurehead position. With the Cult following their champion's example, she watched helplessly as it became more and more violent, prolonging the Peloponnesian War rather than ending it according to her original plan. Her total loss of control culminated in the death of Perikles and the ascension of Kleon in Athens, and she was forced to retreat from public life. While Aspasia noted that people like Leonidas I of Sparta had always opposed the Cult, and that his grandson Deimos was impossible to control, she was surprised at how Kassandra was nothing like her brother, and came to believe in Kassandra's potential. She became optimistic and held hope that Kassandra could destroy the Cult that had become so corrupt, and subsequently believed they could work together to usher in a new republic, enough that she dropped her deceptions and revealed herself to Kassandra of her own volition after the final Cultist had fallen. Navigation Category:Assassin's Creed Villains Category:Video Game Villains Category:Female Category:Anti-Villain Category:Affably Evil Category:Leader Category:Deceased Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice Category:Friend of a Hero Category:In Love Category:Corrupt Officials Category:Abusers Category:Evil from the Past Category:Kidnapper Category:Cult Leaders Category:Immortality Seeker Category:Mature Category:Lawful Evil